Oprah & Dr. Oz Lawyers Knocking at Your Door?

As reported by Azoogle in their latest email, Oprah & Dr “are very unhappy of their celebrity status being used to market dietary supplements and cosmetics, without their permission“. So now it’s time to get legal! It’s taken them quite some time for this to actually happen, as rebills with their names and fake testimonials have been all over for well over a year now.

Here’s more from the AzoogleAds email:

Coincidentally enough, when you go to the MSNBC article mention in the Azoogle email, you’ll see it’s loaded up with the very same ads Oprah & Dr.Oz are fighting against.

Ever since the Illinois State attorney general starting taking action, marketers have changed up their landing pages and practices and slowly moved away from fake and celebrity testimonials. While the landing pages may have changes, there are still many networks out their with ad creative showing Oprah, Rachel Ray and Dr.Oz endorsing rebill offers. I would imagine these are the easiest targets… actual ad creatives and sales pages with these fake celebrity endorsements.

Adotas, and other news sites also came out with an article today on the same topic, which is full of information and numbers on Oprah vs. the Acai market. ABC also has a video interview up.

It will be interesting to see what legal action is taken, which networks and affiliates are targetted, and how/if any damanges will be owed.

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19 Comments

  2. "their celebrity status being used to market dietary supplements and cosmetics, without their permission " i think this is legal and i can also say this is "black campaign "

  4. I think it's a good move to prevent these types of aggressive marketing, that use alot of unreal and fake stuff on their page. I know some of the affiliates who are making the big bux won't like it, but deep down I bet most know it was only a matter of time before their method would be disallowed.

    Till then,

    Jean

  6. The FDA will crack down on any company that isn't pushing pharmacueticals, this is a classic move on their part. They will continue to demonize the acai products, while at the same time make it out to be the affiliate marketers who took celebs names to endorse their products. I don't see them making a stink over Viagra, or other affiliate pharma offers do you?

  7. Goes to show to what extent marketers are ready to go to get "results". But will such methods stand the test of time?

  8. I say its about time, too many scum bags in our neighborhood can spoil the image for the rest of us. If you live in a town that's full of crack heads and hookers how does that make you look to the rest of the world? Internet marketing is no different, we need to improve our public image and this will be a step in the right direction.

  9. For years, famous people have used the legal system to prevent others from making money off their celebrity without compensation. It's interesting to see them turn (finally) to the online space.

  10. I'm glad they're taking legal action. When marketers do dishonest things like this, it reflects poorly on the rest of us. In fact, it's stories like this that made my parents concerned when they found out I was pursuing marketing as my profession. Besides, I wonder how well the fake endorsements worked. I know the Oprah effect has worked well for many products that she endorsed on her show or in her magazine, but an endorsement only coming from the company being "endorsed"? Hmm, that just sounds fishy to me.

  11. I think it's good that the advertisers are being sued. If not then they'd only continue to exploit other offers the same way. A lesson to be learned.

  12. I for one am glad to see that sheisters are being brought to task, as they give everybody else a bad name. Now if this false blog scourge could come to an end life on the web would just be soooo much better.

  13. This doesn't surprise me. The number of crap weight loss sites with Oprah's name plastered all over them is growing by the day. I'm sure it's a great way to make a lot of money like this in the short term, but it's no way to build a long term business. So probably a good thing.

    Sean

  14. I wonder what take these two celebrities this long to take legal action? I am sure they knew that their names and images are being used to market these products.

  15. @aansa:

    Well I am guessing because of the fact that, it's not easy to take legal action in the first place, and they have to gather alot of facts, etc, and alot of legal paper work, etc etc.

    Till then,

    Jean

  16. It is perfect example of black marketing. Unfortunately, it exit every where. But, the legal actions between these two celebrities wouldn't lead us anywhere.

  17. Hi, thanks for this post, i was searching this types of post. very effective and knowledgeble for me. thanks

  18. I'd be very interested to see how the first of these cases with Oprah and Dr Oz turn out. It just seems like a minefield at the moment, and somewhere I'm going to keep far away from with my niche sites.

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